To Be Happy
by schwans
Summary: Daphne Greengrass must make a decision about her own happiness or what would please her family. Written for the Voices in the Mirror of Erised Challenge on HPFC.


_**To Be Happy**_

_The_ _mirror was beautiful, a thing of such beauty that many who saw it were filled with the desire to keep staring. For it showed not their reflection, but the heart's deepest desire._

Daphne was transfixed; her deep brown hair was falling in strands out of her elaborate hair-do. It was an astounding thing; she had shaken her head so many times to try and see if it was real. It was, and it was beautiful. But what the image showed was something that Daphne could not understand.

She was the girl who had everything. The world under her thumb, as it always was with pretty, pureblood, girls who did not associate with those of lesser blood. Unlike that filthy blood-traitor cousin of hers, Lucia Selwyn had left a respectable pureblood man at the altar and helped mudbloods escape from justice. The family no longer wanted anything to do with Lucia. It was just how things were in her family. One must always think of the future of the family and their bloodline. Much harder then it sounded.

Though there was something about the Daphne in the mirror. She seemed so happy. Mirror Daphne turned with a smile that was filled with carefree thoughts and actions. A smile free of family obligations. Free to make choices, selfish ones.

Mirror Daphne continued to smile her clothes well worn and uniform as she examined a relic of some sort, (a piece of a vase perhaps), that was in her hands. She was standing in a strange foreign place making discoveries of a time long past. Daphne suppressed a shiver of delight, she loved history. But her mother had said often that no respectable man would be interested in a woman who could name the dates of each goblin rebellion, wizarding war, name the turning points for each separate conflict, and then the casualty numbers for each side. No, the ideal wife must be quiet and show support for her husband in all of his decisions, produce little purebloods to carry on the family name, and be a gracious hostess to all guests (with a few exceptions).

Daphne looked over her shoulder into the empty shop behind her, just to see how much time she would have with the mirror. Satisfied that her family had not yet stopped in to look for her yet, Daphne turned back to the mirror.

A cave with a high ceiling covered in primitive pictures of a time long past. Pictures that showed the lives of early wizards before civilization took hold. It was like that magazine article she had read last week. Daphne wanted to find old items and understand people of the past. But, it would end her parents love for her and her respectability in high society. Could she end her relationship with her family and see the world for her own happiness?

"Daphne!" Astoria whispered loudly as she poked her head into the Knockturn Alley shop. There was the sound of feet rushing across the creaky wooden floor. Daphne turned sadly to walk out of the workroom and meet her sister. Astoria was a short and blonde coming only up to Daphne's chin, which meant that when Daphne walked into her little sister, Daphne suspected that her chin had begun to develop a rather large and unsightly bruise. "Ouch! Sorry Daffy."

"It's okay, mother and father are ready to leave then?"

Astoria nodded as she rubbed the top of her head. "Yes, and mother said we are getting new robes for the ball next week. I thought you would like to know ahead of time."

Daphne nodded, "Thank you for telling me." Astoria smiled widely and walked out of the shop with a pensive Daphne following.

Could she give it all up for her own happiness? Daphne was not sure just yet, but she had heard a rumor that Lucia was living in Diagon Alley somewhere, and it had been confirmed that she was working as a guard for the Ministry. Perhaps it was time to find her cousin and seek the council of someone who had left the pureblood fold. Daphne's deepest desires were happiness and fulfillment; it was time to take the steps to make it happen, for the times were changing, and Daphne felt she needed to change with them.

* * *

_**Author's Note: **__I own nothing; it all belongs to J. K. Rowling._

_Alright, I think I did a decent job here, it might not be my best work, I started it and stopped because I didn't feel like I had a grip on the character. I came back and words flowed, Daphne was there telling me how she got to where she was in the world. How do you think Daphne turned out here? _

_And you might recognize the character of Lucia Selwyn from my longer stories. __A Friend to Government Pigs__, and __The Septenary__, mostly I threw her in here for someone for Daphne to go and talk with about her problem, someone who had been in the same situation and could give some kind of perspective. Biased perspective, but still…_


End file.
